


Everything in the Bright Night

by for_t2



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Cities, Crisis of Faith, Democracy, Democracy Dies With Thunderous Applause, F/F, Galactic Republic (Star Wars), Homesickness, Hope vs. Despair, Idealism, Late Night Conversations, Planet Coruscant (Star Wars), Self-Doubt, Senator Padmé Amidala, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29908554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_t2/pseuds/for_t2
Summary: Sabé can sneak Senator Amidala down to the Coruscant underworlds for a night off, but that doesn't mean Padmé is going to stop thinking about being the Senator
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Sabé
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Everything in the Bright Night

On Coruscant, the city swallowed the sky. The buildings, the blocks, the mega-blocks reached up almost as high as the stars, dampening the night sky with the glow of too many artificial colours mixed together and suffocating the day sky with the exhaust of trillions.

It made it hard to see. Even up the upper levels of the upper levels, where the air was clear and the passageways weren’t stuffed with crowds, you couldn’t see far. If you looked to the sides, the horizon faded into a grey, smoggy blur. And if you looked down, all you saw was the endless buildings stretching around the planet.

And if you looked long enough, sometimes, it was hard to escape the feeling that someone, somewhere was looking back at you. Sabé didn’t like it. Not just because it set her nerves on alert, tensed for another assassination attempt, but also because there were too many eyes in too many places. There were more eyes than trees, more eyes than green even.

Sabé missed Naboo. She wouldn’t leave Coruscant, of course – Padmé was a Senator, and senators had to go where the senate was, and the Galactic Senate was on Coruscant. But she knew Padmé missed Naboo too. That she didn’t get enough chances to go back. Hell, with all the work and the meetings and the diplomatic soirées, it felt like Padmé barely ever got the chance to go back to her apartment on Coruscant, let alone Naboo (even if Padmé always tried to pretend she got enough sleep). Sometimes, it felt like Sabé was stuck in the towers, playing the role of the Senate’s favourite princess.

Except, of course, that Padmé wasn’t a princess (wasn’t a Queen anymore either) and wasn’t trapped. Not technically.

But that didn’t mean Sabé was looking forward to the lecture she’d get from the Senate security detail tomorrow.

“Careful, my lady.” Sabé reached out to steady Padmé as Padmé peered out over a ledge. “Careful.”

“Thank you,” Padmé whispered, but it didn’t stop her from leaning a little bit further, eyes wide at the fall below them that didn’t seem to end, going down and down for hundreds of stories through the Coruscant underworld until the details all blurred into shapeless light. “Wow.”

And maybe Sabé’s eyes were a little wide too. “Yeah.” What Coruscant lacked in green, it more than made up for in other colours. It was hard, even for a Queen, not to be overwhelmed.

Padmé kept her eyes on the fall, watching the people and the ads flash by the passageways underneath them. “How far down does it go?”

It was a good question, and one whose answer Sabé had the impression had long been lost. “I’m not sure, my lady.” If Naboo had its ruins, Coruscant had its underworld. Had its underworlds. “Some of the other aides have said that it keeps going, all the way through the planet core.” Just rumours, probably, but what was the Senate good for, if not rumours? Especially rumours about which bits of the underworld might be best for a certain young senator to spend a night out in. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to find out.”

“Hm.” Padmé nodded in agreement, eyes still not leaving the view.

Sabé was tempted to stay there, next to Padmé, one arm dangling over the railing, the other wrapped around her, but they had to keep moving. Padmé was a famous face, and with a crowd this size and a city this loud, there was only so much danger Sabé could spot. “Come on, my lady, we should get going.”

Padmé sighed. “We should.”

But she didn’t move. Even as Sabé pushed herself away from the railing and waited for her. “My lady?”

Sabé stepped back towards Padmé and gently put a hand on her arm. Waited a minute longer. “I think…” Padmé started and then stopped. “Don’t you think it’s a shame that we never hear anything about these levels?”

Sabé wasn’t sure how to answer. It was true, they never heard much about the lower levels of Coruscant, but they weren’t part of the Senate delegation for Coruscant. And they had enough work as it was.

“I mean,” Padmé continued without an answer from Sabé. “We work here. The Galactic Senate is right up…” Padmé glanced up to pick out the direction of the Senate through the blocks but couldn’t find it. “It’s right here, and we never hear anything from here. All these people might as well not exist.”

“We’re not on Naboo, my lady.” Sabé was still finding harder and harder to forget. “And we’re not the Queen, anymore.” Even as Queen, no matter how hard Padmé tried, she still never managed to shake every hand on the planet. “Coruscant has its own governments.”

And Padmé had never managed to solve every problem on Naboo either. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t even start to solve all of them. No matter how hard she tried. “I know.” Padmé sighed again. “But…”

Sabé shifted a little closer to her. “Padmé?”

Padmé stayed silent for a long moment before replying. “I’m supposed to hate them, aren’t I?”

Sabé didn’t need to hear the name to know which them Padmé was talking about. They had never consciously made a decision, but at some point during her mandate as Queen, they had all just stopped using it. “They invaded Naboo.” And the Trade Federation would do it again if they could. “They would’ve killed you.”

“They would’ve killed you too, Sabé, and I can’t forgive them for that.” Padmé voice went cold for a moment. Just for a moment. “But sometimes I wonder if… if maybe they had a point about the Republic.”

“They invaded Naboo because they couldn’t stand the idea of losing a few credits of profit to taxes.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Sabé shrugged. She wasn’t going to forgive the Trade Federation either. No matter what. “Then what did you mean?”

“Sabé…” Padmé sounded so tired, so guilty, that Sabé instantly regretted raising her voice. “In the Senate all we do is talk about the separatists. A new crisis every day.” Padmé shook her head. “Sometimes, all I think about during these debates is that when Naboo was invaded, the Republic did nothing.”

Sabé tried not to let her voice slip into formality as an apology but didn’t quite manage. “They sent the Jedi, my lady.”

“Two Jedi! They sent two Jedi, Sabé!” Padmé had left out the swears, as everyone with Royal training always did, but they were still there. “What good is a democracy that won’t help its people?”

They were barely a year into Padmé’s first mandate as Senator, but sometimes… Sometimes, when Sabé had to help set up an informal meeting, had to watch Padmé smile diplomatically as she traded a favour for a vote, a part of Sabé couldn’t help but wonder if she’d go as far as to call the Republic a democracy. “Do you remember what you told us when you accepted the Queen’s request to present yourself as a candidate for Senator, my lady?”

“I remember.” Even if she was no longer Queen, and they were no longer her Royal Handmaidens, she had still invited them to dinner before she answered Queen Réillata (had even cooked the dinner herself). “I told you that the Republic stood for peace and for democracy, and that becoming Senator would give me a chance to fight for those values.” The corners of Padmé’s mouth twitched upwards. “And I told you that if I accepted the Queen’s request, you were to remind me to fight for peace and democracy every single time you saw me.”

“Every single time.” In the end, they had unanimously agreed that Padmé would have their support. It hadn’t been a difficult decision to make. “The Republic isn’t perfect, my lady, and sometimes it’s hard to believe in it. But it’s never hard to believe in you.” Sabé hadn’t hesitated. “If there’s any reason to believe in the Republic, it’s because you’re fighting for it. And there’s no one I’d rather be fighting with.”

Padmé blushed (lightly, easily hidden in the city lights, but Sabé knew her well enough). “You flatter me, Sabé.”

“It’s just part of the job, my lady.” Sabé mimicked the curtesy the Advozse Senator had tried to give Padmé at their first committee meeting, an attempt that they still hadn’t decided was sarcasm or not. “Plus, if you really want to hear a rumour from the back corridors of the Senate, some aides have been whispering that Sheev Palpatine has been hinting heavily about who he’d support as his successor.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.” The rumours were widespread to the point that it was starting to become common knowledge. Chancellor Palpatine, they said, was talking about how the Republic needed a leader with a little more fire in them, maybe someone young and charismatic, maybe someone like the young Senator from his homeworld who already vice-chair of a handful of committees despite was only being a year into her first mandate. Competent, the Chancellor was, but subtle, he was not. “I think I like the sound of it. Supreme Chancellor Amidala.” Sabé let the words roll on her tongue. “Your excellency.”

Padmé snorted. “I’ve already been Queen; I don’t think I want to be Chancellor too.” Then smiled. “I think I’d rather solve all the galaxy’s problem then retire early, somewhere by the ocean maybe, somewhere where Rabé could write the most beautiful music and Eirtaé could invent a new type of droid, somewhere where I could spend the days climbing through the ruins trying to learn one of the old languages and where I could spend the nights watching you laugh. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Nice would be underselling it. “You deserve it.”

“I hope one day I will.” Padmé’s smile grew wistful for a second before fading. “But until then, what good is a fighter for the Republic who doesn’t always believe in the Republic?”

“The Republic is not its values. Those will stand whatever direction the Galaxy takes. Those are worth fighting for whatever the direction the Galaxy takes. The Republic can only be so lucky as to have someone who will push it to stand for those values too.” The Republic could only be so lucky as to have someone like Padmé. “And no matter the Republic, no matter what happens with it, I know that Naboo is lucky to have you standing with it, my lady.” So incredibly lucky. “And I know that I’m lucky to be able to stand with you and help you fight. There isn’t anywhere that would make me luckier.”

Padmé’s smile came back, even if just for a second. “You make it sound like the Republic could collapse.”

“The Republic’s stood for a thousand years, my lady.” And now it had Padmé. “These aren’t the first separatist crises it’s had.”

“I…” Padmé hesitated. Glanced back out at the city, at the underworlds all shining bright underneath each other. “I think you’re right. The Republic wouldn’t collapse this easily. Democracy wouldn’t.” She took Sabé’s hand and leaned over with a kiss. “After all, democracy never dies without a fight.”


End file.
